Rechargeable batteries

I started noticing a problem with my electronics not working consistently about year ago.
I bought a smart charger and discovered many of my 7 day shop batteries were dead and not accepting a charge any longer.
Moved to eneloops since and no problems.
To be fair - eneloops have been going for a year and are a smaller sampling size of 8 vs approx 30 7-day shop regular and long lasting charge batteries from 2-4 years old.
Smart chargers showing you if any battery is dying are a good investment to days lost from not being able to shoot because your flash, trigger, receivers, etc aren't working.
 
It can help to put the 'dead' batteries in an old 'dumb' charger for 30 seconds or so, then switch them to the smart charger. That seems to kickstart many of them.
 
I'm finished with 7 day shop batteries............too many dead units compared to zero problems with Eneloops
 
I'm surprised by my old original Sanyo eneloops , they've been on refresh all weekend and all 4 are showing above 1900mh (max is 2000) and I reckon they're 4-5 years old! I do swear by them.
 
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A few times per year Aldi / lidl sell low discharge eneloop style batteries. Good price and I have found them ok so far.

With any of the high powered batteries, watch out for their diameter as they tend to be a tiny bit fatter than the lower rated ones. I have a few items that cannot cope with the physical size difference, so have to use the lower powered ones in those.
 
dizidav said:
I have been using 7dayshop ones for a couple of years now, with no problems, they seem to hold their charge fine, I cycle them once a month if the are not being used.
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Me too - the green 7dayshop "Good to Go" ones are similar to the Sanyo Eneloops and work well - they hold a charge for weeks, months even. I've had the oldest sets for 5 or 6 years now and they still work. I tend to charge them up on an adhoc basis tbh - usually a few days before a shoot.
 
I was using 7Day shop ones for ages with no problems whatsoever, having said that I am selling them now as I've moved over to flash's with lithium batteries so don't need them, if anyone wants them give me a shout and I will put them in the classifieds, I think I have about 30
 
NiMh cells don't hold their charge as well as the old Ni Cad cells when not in use. Problem with Ni Cad is that when at very low charges they grow crystals internally that degrade their performance. Lithium is better as they hold their charge but even they degrade over time. I just go for Asda own brand cells.
 
Ladybird12345 said:
Were to buy these eneloop batteries
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Amazon etc. There are two types - the original white Eneloops rated at 1900mAh and the slightly higher capacity (and more expensive) black ones at 2500mAh.
 
Pete B said:
NiMh cells don't hold their charge as well as the old Ni Cad cells when not in use. Problem with Ni Cad is that when at very low charges they grow crystals internally that degrade their performance. Lithium is better as they hold their charge but even they degrade over time. I just go for Asda own brand cells.
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It's the other way around. The big advantage of Ni-Mh (eneloops etc) is that they hold their charge very well. It's Ni-cads that are poor at that, among other disadvantages.
 
Only if they are LSD NiMh
 
Tried most of the brands on the market, and I'll climb on the popular Eneloop bandwagon, as they really are just superb batteries!
 
I've been using a Technoline BL 700 charger for a few years. It holds four batteries (either AA or AAA) but will charge a single battery if needed. It tests the batteries to show if they are OK or kaput. It will do a discharge and recharge cycle and will charge at three rates. It is not cheap but but seems to work well.

Dave
 
Tringa said:
I've been using a Technoline BL 700 charger for a few years. It holds four batteries (either AA or AAA) but will charge a single battery if needed. It tests the batteries to show if they are OK or kaput. It will do a discharge and recharge cycle and will charge at three rates. It is not cheap but but seems to work well.

Dave
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Same here.
 
The 7day shop AA ones are 2900 mAh which is very good for the price.
 
I've been using Amazon Basics at 2000 nMh in my soeedlites and triggrs Considering they are basics they've been very good. But they also get used for all the kids stuff and I get whatever batteries aren't in toys at the time. I think this may be taking its toll so am looking to get my own 'flash kit only' batteries.

Think I might give the Enelopes a whirl.

But the Amazon basics are still very good for the money for kids toys etc.
 
Raptor Mike said:
I've been using Amazon Basics at 2000 nMh in my soeedlites and triggrs Considering they are basics they've been very good. But they also get used for all the kids stuff and I get whatever batteries aren't in toys at the time. I think this may be taking its toll so am looking to get my own 'flash kit only' batteries.

Think I might give the Enelopes a whirl.

But the Amazon basics are still very good for the money for kids toys etc.
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I bought the very first sets of these, they don't hold charge as well as the enelopes or the 7ds ones.
 
I have had an Ansmann Digispeed 4 for over ten years and still going strong, used it this morning
 
I've been using Vapex low discharge AAs from www.component-shop.co.uk for about 10 years now - got my first sets in 2006 for a trip to Thailand. The oldest have pretty much had it now, but were still going until a couple of years ago, and I've just bought another set for a flashgun.
 
Sunday 18 Dec 2018 - Lidl
http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers...12&utm_medium=email&utm_content=colourfultech

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=39993

Bought about 8 packs (8 per pack) last year. Chucked out maybe 3 batteries during the year for being a bit sulky, the rest have been great. They are quite fat though, so will not squeeze into older devices. Will prob get some more on Sunday as I use loads - I got about 6 packs of the AAA size too but they all seem to have vanished into items. All of them seem to have held charge for long periods. If you need a slimmer design get the lower powered versions of Eneloops off Amazon as they are very good and also thinner than the high power versions.
 
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